


Dancing Queen

by Prettygirlgraves



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Camelot, Dancing, Developing Relationship, Fluff, enchanted forest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-30
Updated: 2016-01-30
Packaged: 2018-05-17 04:53:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5854939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Prettygirlgraves/pseuds/Prettygirlgraves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Takes place during 5x02, in the scene where Snow and Charming teach Regina how to dance. This is how I would have liked it to happen in a little more detail and a bit more insight into Regina's past to find the reason why she cannot actually dance.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Dancing Queen

**Author's Note:**

> Hi guys!
> 
> A quick one shot here that popped into my mind one day. I am half way through the next chapter of "You don't have a home etc" so that should be up in the next couple of days hopefully if all goes well! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this one shot, please let me know if you would like this to be a series of one shots about Regina and dance- just let me know!

"I can watch him," Regina answered suddenly, entering the room from the side, still wearing her mayoral pant suit. She still hadn't changed for the ball this evening. 

"I'm not going," she added brusquely, as she strided past Snow in her tall high heels, as if it wasn't even a matter to discuss, it was simply decided. She clacked across the floor in the familiar way that Snow identified to be a form of intimidation. But it wouldn't work, not this time, not with her. 

"But you have to," she insisted. "Everyone's expecting you."

What would it look like if they turned up without the saviour? Snow knew they had to keep up appearances, and a lack of Regina would only place a feeling of mistrust and suspicion between them and Arthur's people. They had to find Merlin to get the darkness out of Emma and she knew Camelot was the only way to do that once and for all. 

"I should be figuring out how to free Merlin, not fox-trotting my way across Club Medieval," she snorted as she folded her arms in defiance. Despite Regina's best efforts, Snow could see a familiar anxiety in her stepmothers stance; her eyes flicked from her own to the floor. Her usual mask had shifted slightly to reveal something raw, pure and simple anxiety. She was hiding something. 

"Regina."

"What?" She asked as if there was nothing to say. Despite her years of practiced lying, Snow had also known her for many years and she could tell that there was something obviously wrong. 

"The truth."

"I can't go, all right? I can't."

"Because why?" She persisted, an impatient look applied on her face as she looked the woman up and down. 

"Because...Because...I don't know how to dance," she said quietly. 

She paused her speech for a moment as Snow took in what she had just heard. Regina couldn't dance? But...But...Before she began to speak, Regina cut in nervously, her eyes still twitching as she for once mumbled an explanation. 

"Mother never taught me to dance herself, she was too busy and high up for such lessons. No she employed someone, a dreary women from which I never learnt anything other than a few basic moves," Regina said quickly.

"Regina you don't need to-,"

"But I want to," she replied softly, this time looking deeply into Snows eyes. She realised this was as honest as her stepmother had been with her in a long time, and most she would probably ever learn about her past it seemed though Snow had secret hopes. She felt she had finally got somewhere in their relationship. This was trust.

"She knew I was useless with it so after a while she just gave in and forgot about it, which was unusual for her."

Snow interrupted quickly when she found a moment to cut in as Regina breathed shakily- "This can't be possible, you and I went to dozens of balls together!' She said in exasperated surprise. Regina sighed with a maturity in her face that reminded Snow there was still much she didn't know about her step mother...her friend, she corrected. Regina was more than just her stepmother now. It was her more adult face that presented a front that only occurred when she talked of their past life together at her fathers palace. It suggested to Snow that much had gone on unseen behind the walls. 

"Luckily I hardly ever got asked to dance by Leopold at the castle," she continued, ignoring Snow's comment. "I was only asked once my wedding night which I was able to manage by fumbling around a bit. Leo...he was so drunk by that point anyway he didn't mind if I stepped on his toes every now and again. Later on during my years in the palace, he was more interested with dancing with his precious daughter."

Her own childhood naivety frustrated her. Her own view on the past seemed to be rose-tinted compared to Regina's perspective of events, and she was sad to say she had never in fact noticed the lack of her stepmothers presence on the dance floor which made her stomach churn in guilt. 

"But you're so graceful...so Queen like," she muttered in confusion. It was all she could think to say after that. She couldn't bear another apology to the woman she had let down so many times.

"Walking is one thing dear," the woman said with a further sigh, "I was able to perfect my walk after years of training. It was something I used for...intimidation," she added with a grimace. When talking of her past as the evil queen, a look of sadness always flicked past in her deep brown before being replaced with her usual solemn look. 

"A woman's walk is extremely important," she continued. "Even more so for a Queen. Women in the enchanted forest didn't get much respect, so my walk had to portray the authority I so desired. I didn't need to use my dancing skills to walk up to them doing the funky chicken unlike Miss Swan- Emma, might like to imagine in her time off," she added with a slight chuckle. 

Snow held back a laugh at Regina's attempted joke but allowed herself a small smile at the remembrance Emma's lack of understanding of the Enchanted forest life mixed and her random modern cultural references. 

"As the evil queen I rarely held balls. The only time I did was at the beginning of my reign to present a sense of normality that obviously I gave up on. I didn't dance, not once. I barely even talked to anyone dear, let alone participated in such an intimate act," she said with a sad smile, nervously glancing to Snow before moving her eyes again to the floor.

"I doubt Robin Hood will mind if you step on a few toes," Snow said in the gradually thickening silence after Regina's unusual honesty. 

Regina blinked, looking surprised at her reference to Robin. Snow then suddenly realised it wasn't about Robin at all. Regina was comfortable with him. It was something more. 

"This isn't about Robin, is it?" She asked tentatively. 

"People are expecting a savior tonight, not an ex-evil queen," she replied reluctantly, but forcing the words out of her pink lips. 

"How will they ever believe I can free Merlin if I can't even convince them I know how to dance?" 

Snow looked to Regina in realisation. This was all about her and how far she had come, or lack of it according to Regina. She had so little confidence in herself it startled her. Maybe the evil queen confidence had all just been an act. 

"Nobody here knows you, Regina. You can be whoever you want to be."

"You don't understand," she said, exasperated. "This is about me. They won't believe it, I can't convince them I'm a pure light saviour. I'm no Emma.'

"You broke the curse with true loves Kiss, and defeated Zelena with light magic," Snow insisted, ignoring her step mothers eye rolling. 

'It doesn't mean I don't still have dark inside of me."

"I know you, Regina," Snow said gently, taking a slow but deliberate step towards her. "You have changed into a better person than you once were. Isn't that enough?"

"I still can't dance," she muttered finally, and sulkily, almost childlike as she stared at the floor, refusing to meet Snows eyes. 

"Well that isn't a problem. You can if we teach you," she said with a smile, looking to David with a knowing grin. 

"No," she replied definitely, this time meeting her eyes with Snows in disgust at the very idea. 

"Doc," David called from behind her, returning her grin. Doc came in quickly with a gilded gold music box and turned the lever on the back of it to start the tinkling music playing. 

David stepped towards Regina with a mock grin as he held out his hand to her. 

"Your majesty."

She still sighed but a smile was beginning to quirk at the corners of her lips. 

"Wait, sorry," she butted in quickly, placing her hand on David's outstretched one. If they were going to do this, they were going to do it right. 

"The first thing my mother taught me about dancing," she continued. "Is that you have to learn how to move in a dress, not a sensible pantsuit."

Regina's eye roll was even more extravagant than she thought physically possible, but with a resigned sigh, she muttered:

"Fine."

Snow watched as she surrounded herself in a deep purple cloud of her magic. When it dissipated, she saw Regina in a black and gold dress with huge shoulder spikes- it was typical evil queen with a long black skirt and plunging neckline.

Snow pulled a face, and she imagined that David did too considering the look of resignation that was plastered on Regina's face, along with dark contouring makeup. 

"What?" The woman said with a sigh. 

"It's a little...scary," David said from beside her. And it was, Snow had to admit. It reminded her that Regina had once been the evil queen on the hunt for her, unlike the friend she was now. This was not the kind of image she wanted to project as the saviour of the party. 

She put her hands quickly between David and Regina as noted her glaring at David menacingly, almost evil queen like- but only almost, not quite. 

"What he means is...if you want people to see you as the saviour, then maybe you should go for something a little less evil?" She suggested gently to Regina. 

She watched as Regina held back another eye roll and moved her hands downwards, allowing her purple magic to consume her image once more, blocking her from Snow and Charming's view. 

This time she was wearing a pale white dress with a hint of pastel pink, decorated with small white gems sewn down the middle and the sides. It looked much more similar to her own dress and she had to admit, Regina looked incredibly beautiful. Her dark brown hair was tied in a loose bun and her makeup was much more subtle, rosy. 

"Now, that is perfect," she said with a smile. "It even matches your necklace." She gestured to Regina's gift of the pink gem necklace encased in silver. The woman held her hand to it fondly with a smile at Snow's words. Now they could begin to dance. 

David walked over, pulling Regina gently into the dance position and she looked in surprise as Regina followed him. 

"All right follow me," he said with a grin, "Just feel it."

"Step back with your left," he said, but they both stepped inwards at the same time along to the tinkling music and Snow imagined that Regina had stepped on his toes. 

"Oh, oh that's okay," David said quickly. She watched as her husband accommodated Regina, making her feel more relaxed doing something she obviously wasn't comfortable with. They almost seemed like friends. 

"You're fine, you're fine," he said, almost supportively with a patient smile. 

"Ready?" He asked again and Regina nodded quickly, embarrassed at her mistakes. Snow knew why, the older woman never wanted to fail at anything. 

"One, two, three," he said as they moved together round the floor of the small room, Regina almost clinging on to David for dear life. Despite the unusual sight, Snow smiled. 

"There you go," David said with a chuckle, and to Snows surprise, she also heard Regina's throaty laugh alongside his. It was a pleasant thing to hear in times like these, she almost forgot about the hardships of the purpose of their mission.

"One, two, three..." Continued as David guided Regina round the room. He even began to spin her round and the smile she saw on Regina's face was one she had longed to see again since she was a little girl- happiness. She only wished she had been happy like this with her and her father. Maybe someday Regina would share what had plagued her days in the castle. 

Maybe someday, Snow murmured to herself as she eased gently out of the door of the room, leaving David and Regina dancing together.

The smile never left her lips.


End file.
